Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Population
4,722,028
584,578
Life Expectancy
80.320 years
74.420 years
Capital City
Dublin
Largest city
Dublin (population: 1,024,030)
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Human Development Index
0.96
0.591
GDP per capita
$40,100 US
Literacy Rate
99%
%
Corruption Perception Index
7.7
2.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
15.5%
0%
Wealthiest Citizens
Pallonji Mistry ($2.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
14.400%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic, parliamentary democracy
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
Religions
Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Languages
English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Exports
machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
External Debt
$2,352,000,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6689 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
3
0
Location
Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Area
70,273 km sq
28,896 km sq
Coastline
1,448 km
5,313 km
Climate
temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
